Come From Behind Campaign

There is nothing more exciting in track than watching someone come from behind.

Everybody loves a comeback story.  There is nothing more exciting in track than watching someone come from behind.  In fact, I enjoy a good comeback story so much that I have continued to watch a YouTube video of someone from a team up north chasing down two of her opponents in the final leg of a 4×400 meter relay this past year.  When others counted her out, she was just getting started. 

This Christmas, we are going to invite you to join us in our Come from Behind campaign at Hope Church.  We are inviting our entire church family to give above and beyond toward our Christmas campaign so that we can end 2021 financially strong and begin the new year with a running start.  

This has been a great season at Hope Church.  Despite being off-campus for the majority of a year, we experienced some really great things in 2021.  

  1. We engaged with more people this year through our online ministry than we had previously.  The total number of people that are engaging each week has increased since the start of COVID-19.  Furthermore, families have begun attending our in-person services because of our online services.  
  2. We have begun using our remodeled Hudson Hall to host the Centerville Integrated Transitions Options Program (ITOPS).  Twice weekly, students with disabilities from Centerville High School learn vocational skills and participate in outreach projects at Hope Church. 
  3. We have grown deeper in our affection for God and our appreciation of one another.  We hired a great worship leader.  We returned to worship after being absent on campus for nearly a year.  Our Pray 4 Me campaign has not only given our adults a chance to engage with our students, but one 6th grade student said, “I am praying for my adult prayer partners.”  His mother told me that this campaign has caused him to develop a daily habit of prayer.  

This has been such a great year and we want to finish strong.  But next year, we are looking for even greater impact.  Next year we want to: 

  1. Open our updated facility to our community.  We remodeled Hudson Hall and created a café to have a place to invite our neighbors to gather.  As we slowly get beyond the impact of COVID-19, we are eager to open our doors to our community. 
  2. Engage children and youth: We are going to continue to create ways that young people can serve as part of our multi-generational community.  
  3. Develop more disciple-making opportunities:   We have a team of disciple-makers that have devoted this past year to ongoing training and mutual accountability in the practice of disciple-making.  Each of these team members is excited to fully engage in disciple making next year. 

What can we do to Come from Behind? 

  1. Continue to be faithful and sacrificial.  Hope Church has always been a generous congregation.  If you are one of the many people of Hope Church that has consistently given, we want to encourage you to continue to be faithful.  Your giving makes a difference. 
  2. Finish Strong: No matter what place you are in on the track, everyone always finishes the last lap as strong as they can.  No matter what your giving has been this year, we want to invite you to finish the year strong with us.  
  3. Join the Race:  It is never too late to get engaged.  I am convinced that it is harder to start a marathon than finish one.  For most people, getting started is the hardest part.  This may be the Christmas to start a habit of giving.  Giving is like running – most of the people that begin doing it, find it so rewarding that they continue to find ways to do it more often.

You can participate by logging in to our give page or through the app (Hope Church Dayton in Android and Apple store) or by mailing your check to the church.  All donations received will go toward the general operating expenses in order to enable Hope Church to Come from Behind and start 2022 strong.  

Remember, it is not important where we start, but where we finish. 

Let’s come from behind together.

 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: What about “Christmas with A Cause?”  Don’t we do always do something intentional to serve our community each Christmas? 

A: For the past several years, we have done a project that responded to the greatest need in our community at the moment.  We built a maternity center in Africa, provided Christmas for nearly 50 families impacted by the Memorial Day tornados, and created a COVID 19 relief fund last year in addition to other things.  This year is no different.  We think the best gift that we can give our community is to position ourselves to start the new year financially strong.  The stronger position we are in as church moving forward, the more impact we can make with outreach and missions.  

Q: Why do you think we need come from behind? 

A: Church Stewardship Expert Mark Brooks projects that most churches are going to experience a 10-20% decline in contributions this year.  At the writing of this letter, Hope Church is about 9% behind where were projected to be.  Like most other churches, we have seen many people slow to and re-engage in both their presence and generosity.  

Q: How can I give?

  1. You can use any of our giving platforms (include info here).  
    1. Push Pay
    2. Text to Give 
    3. Website 
    4. Use the self-addressed envelope provided here. 
    5. Give as part of the Sunday Morning worship gathering. 

Besides the normal way of giving to Hope, there are several giving strategies that may be advantageous to you during this End Of Year Hope Stewardship Program. The use of these strategies should be reviewed with your tax or financial advisor.  

Donation of appreciated stock – If you have stock that you have owned for more than one year, you can donate this stock via Charles Swabb directly to the church and possibly avoid any capital gain tax. Contact John Ward at joward2223@aol.com if you have any questions.

QCD from your IRA account – If you are over 70.5 years old and you have an IRA, you can donate directly from your IRA without having to claim it as income on your taxes. The company that you have your IRA with can assist in this process. Contact John Ward at joward2223@aol.com if you have any questions.

QCD from your RMD – if you are over 72 years old and are required to take a distribution from your IRA, you can donate directly from your IRA without having to claim it as income on your taxes. Contact John Ward at joward2223@aol.com if you have any questions.

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